Who's Going to Guard Kyle Korver on the Cavs?

Despite SG Kyle Korver not having a good shooting series in the Conference Semifinals, the Atlanta Hawks played great defensively and clawed their way into the Eastern Finals. I’ll give a lot of credit to Washington Wizards SG Bradley Beal. Beal was pretty much Korver’s shadow all series and he was arguably the best player on the court for either team in most games. But the best player doesn’t win a series, the best team does. Or at least, let’s keep hoping that it holds true for our Hawks as they take on the Cleveland Cavaliers for the East. Now that Beal’s season is over with, who on Cleveland is going to contain Kyle Korver out on the perimeter?

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Korver never stops moving. He’s not the fastest guy on the floor by any stretch of the imagination, but his motor is second to none. This constant motion allows Korver to turn even the smallest of spaces into high percentage threes. Celtics HC Brad Stevens says it best, “…you have to treat him like he averages 30, or else it could be 30.” Who on Cleveland loves to run around a lot? It’s hard pressed as this team plays at the slowest pace of any team in the 2015 NBA Playoffs.

Is LeBron James really going to have to chase Korver all over the floor? Kyrie Irving isn’t healthy now and might find it difficult to play primary on-ball defense for Cleveland. How soon would JR Smith find playing defense on Korver uninteresting? Maybe after a quarter or two? Mike Miller is too old for this kind of nonsense. It looks like Iman Shumpert and Matthew Dellavedova drew the short straws for the Cavaliers.

I’m not saying that Shumpert or Dellavedova can’t defend Kyle Korver on the perimeter, but Cleveland doesn’t have the lock down perimeter defender in the backcourt. Most of their defensive prowess comes from their forwards and center.

“…you have to treat him like he averages 30, or else it could be 30.” – Celtics Head Coach Brad Stevens on Kyle Korver

In the season series with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Atlanta Hawks won it 3-1. When Atlanta came away victorious over David Blatt’s team, Mike Budenholzer had his Hawks team playing with pace and knocking down outside shots. If Atlanta shoots better from the outside in the Eastern Conference Finals than the team did against the Wizards, the Hawks can seize the tempo of the series. By exploiting these two key mismatches (pace and perimeter defense), The Atlanta Hawks could make life even more difficult for Cleveland sports fans.

Game 1 begins tomorrow at 8:30 PM ET live from Philips Arena in downtown Atlanta. Let it sink in for a moment. This IS the biggest game in Atlanta Hawks history. The best part about this series is that ALL the pressure is on LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. If Coach Bud can get his team to play Atlanta Hawks basketball, I like our team’s chances to play for an NBA Championship. Let’s Go Hawks!

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Who’s Going to Guard Kyle Korver on the Cavs?

By John Buhler | May 19, 2015